Much was made about the fact that two members from the RSS were invited to speak at the celebrated Jaipur Literature Festival. By a lucky coincidence (maybe not so lucky), I was touring Jaipur during this time and would like to relay some of my thoughts about it.
I felt that the two speakers handled themselves very well. They made some good points and some that weren't. While it is unfortunate that there was nobody on the panel to debate against the two Hindutva proponents - the organisers should have seen to it - the discussion was good nevertheless.
The two speakers rightly pointed out that despite the targeted killings of RSS members in Kerala, there was no outrage against it. The government also doesn't seem to be very keen on ending this violence. Although, one of the speakers, Dattatreya Hosabale, slipped up. When asked if the RSS condones violence, he flatly said that it didn't. He then proceeded however, to say, "If some people are out to attack RSS persons, it is but human to attack in certain cases. Apart from that, no." This is all but condoning violence.
The other excellent argument put forth was that as soon as it was announced that two speakers were going to speak at JLF, a number of people pulled out in protest. These people usually are supporters of free speech, but seemed to exclude RSS from it. Hosabale rightly pointed out that those who allege intolerance by the present government were also being intolerant.
When asked to explain the RSS's interpretation of Hindutva, which is generally perceived as Hindu fundamentalism, there was some clear bullshitting. The other speaker, Manmohan Vaidya, said that Hindutva was "Hinduness", which he described as being an ethos that respected diversity. An ancient form of secularism, if you like. V D Savarkar, who popularised the word Hindutva, described it this way. However, what Vaidya left out was that Savarkar also explicitly states that to be a part of a Hindu rashtra, which the RSS aims to establish, one must accept India not only as a motherland, but also holy land. There ends the argument that Hindutva is an ethos that respects diversity.
It is unfortunate that the speakers' statements on caste based reservations were distorted by the media. Vaidya had said that eventually, caste based reservations would need to end. A statement which most people would agree with, I would say. However, it was reported that "the RSS wants to end reservations."
The worst part of the event was when a clearly bigoted man in the audience claimed that Muslims across the world were backward and they couldn't be helped. This was followed by a general round of applause from the audience. Sigh.
While the quality of panels and the discussion was decent, I was hugely disappointed with the crowd at the LitFest. It was clearly an elite space. One was left to wonder if they had accidentally wandered into a mall rather than a literature festival. I was shocked when two girls ordered vodka shots. In the middle of the day. At a literature festival. Sigh.
I felt that the two speakers handled themselves very well. They made some good points and some that weren't. While it is unfortunate that there was nobody on the panel to debate against the two Hindutva proponents - the organisers should have seen to it - the discussion was good nevertheless.
The two speakers rightly pointed out that despite the targeted killings of RSS members in Kerala, there was no outrage against it. The government also doesn't seem to be very keen on ending this violence. Although, one of the speakers, Dattatreya Hosabale, slipped up. When asked if the RSS condones violence, he flatly said that it didn't. He then proceeded however, to say, "If some people are out to attack RSS persons, it is but human to attack in certain cases. Apart from that, no." This is all but condoning violence.
The other excellent argument put forth was that as soon as it was announced that two speakers were going to speak at JLF, a number of people pulled out in protest. These people usually are supporters of free speech, but seemed to exclude RSS from it. Hosabale rightly pointed out that those who allege intolerance by the present government were also being intolerant.
When asked to explain the RSS's interpretation of Hindutva, which is generally perceived as Hindu fundamentalism, there was some clear bullshitting. The other speaker, Manmohan Vaidya, said that Hindutva was "Hinduness", which he described as being an ethos that respected diversity. An ancient form of secularism, if you like. V D Savarkar, who popularised the word Hindutva, described it this way. However, what Vaidya left out was that Savarkar also explicitly states that to be a part of a Hindu rashtra, which the RSS aims to establish, one must accept India not only as a motherland, but also holy land. There ends the argument that Hindutva is an ethos that respects diversity.
It is unfortunate that the speakers' statements on caste based reservations were distorted by the media. Vaidya had said that eventually, caste based reservations would need to end. A statement which most people would agree with, I would say. However, it was reported that "the RSS wants to end reservations."
The worst part of the event was when a clearly bigoted man in the audience claimed that Muslims across the world were backward and they couldn't be helped. This was followed by a general round of applause from the audience. Sigh.
While the quality of panels and the discussion was decent, I was hugely disappointed with the crowd at the LitFest. It was clearly an elite space. One was left to wonder if they had accidentally wandered into a mall rather than a literature festival. I was shocked when two girls ordered vodka shots. In the middle of the day. At a literature festival. Sigh.
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